Saturday, 21 November 2015

Interview with Site Manager - Gavin Goodwin

My father was a painter and
decorator and about 12/13 I was getting it into with him going with him to work.
I then got into carpentry and it all sort of escalated from there.

How long have you been
in the industry now then?

Around 28 to 30 years – maybe even
more.

Roughly how many
projects have you worked on in your capacity as site manager?

20+ maybe more

So what part of the
process of the build do you enjoy the most?

Walking out of the gate! Knowing
that I have passed it on to someone and it’s all finished and done and dusted

Do you have a favourite
building?

I did a building, Adastral Park a
sports pavilion and cricket pavilion and we won an award it was eco-friendly.
It was really airtight and sustainable. That was the best one. It was
interesting doing it

How would you
summarise the process that this building (Merland Rise Church) has been through
so far?

Challenging. We have had a lot of
problems with different trade aspects of the building because it is slightly
complicated with the steel and that sort of stuff. But it’s been interesting
but challenging at the same time.

How would you
describe the team working on the site?

Very good. Everyone is doing really
good at the moment.

Who is the biggest
character?

I would say probably the brickie
supervisor [Brian - check out our impromptu photoshoot below!]. Yeah he has been the most interesting. I think because he has been
the longest person on the site so I have got to know him more than anyone else
at the moment.

So do you work with
different teams every time or do you have a core team?

Sometimes, it all depends on the
project.I have only worked with Caldera for two years. I was specifically taken
on for big projects and the first one I did was Horley Church so I am still getting
to know Caldera.

At this stage of this
project what is the biggest challenge that the building could face?

It is purely the weather. And then
we have the roof, that is a challenge because that is complicated but apart from
that it is a very traditional build apart from the roof.

And do you have any
advice for our church as we wait for the building to be built

Patience! Let me finish it! Nothing
really, it is a standard building so hopefully once we pass it over to you and
you have your manuals it should go smoothly.